“I was legit scared for my safety, so I quit.”

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"He went on to explain he came from a family of educators, so 'he knows how it all works.' He looked me dead in the eye and said, 'So I want to know what YOU aren’t doing as a teacher that my son has an A in your class, but not the others… You must be doing something wrong.' I was speechless. Don’t know what you want me to tell you, dude."

"A quick investigation revealed that the daughter never submitted an application and essay; therefore, she wasn't on the ballot. The daughter should have noticed her name missing when she voted, and that no essay was posted for others to read. Instead, the mother started screaming that we lost the essay and that we were ruining her daughter's life. 

The superintendent decided to REDO the whole election. So, new ballots were made, even though the student still never officially turned in an essay or application. She did not get enough votes, as students were angry that she was trying to kick out someone who had already been voted in, and that the election was redone just for her. 

This is when the mother got really angry, wanting to sue the school for bullying and discrimination. It was turned into a big deal, with teachers being accused of cheating and lying about the votes for a HIGH SCHOOL ELECTION! She tried to get local media involved. The whole thing ended with the student saying she actually didn't care that much, and everyone stopped talking about it."

"While I was trying to come up with a response to this unhinged email, Mom emailed me again to call herself out about claiming to have been present. I deleted my draft response and pretended the whole exchange never happened. I just wanted it to stop."

"At the time, I lived close to the school, and this student had figured out my address. I told my admin, and he was suspended for a few days. That same evening, he DID show up at my house. I had to go through the proper protocol (informing admin and our school’s resource office, filing a formal police report, etc.), and he was removed from my class. His brother and friend weren’t, though, and I frequently heard from the parents throughout the rest of the year about how much of a bully and a problem I was. When I caught them cheating with proof, one of their moms even had the nerve to say she was proud of her son for doing what it took to get a good grade in my 'impossible class.'"

"The report card was the only one that came back. His parent had filled it out, drawn a rude picture, and 'failed' me for 'never' calling on their child to answer a question, even though, as he told them, he’d raised his hand to answer every question. They wrote that I was the worst teacher and that if they saw I was still at the school the following year, they’d make a formal complaint to the principal.

That was my last interaction with a parent before I left education, and I feel incredibly secure in my decision whenever I think about it. Admin is often not supportive, but parents can be the most thankless part of the job!"

"I heard that several lawyers laughed her out of their offices. She took her daughter out of the school that year and enrolled her in public school. This was October of her senior year. 

I heard that in her freshman year in college, when she didn't get into the sorority she wanted, her mother sued the sorority. The girl dropped out of college."

"One day, she went off on my boss because her child misplaced an expensive coat. 'I don’t have to work, unlike you,' she said to my boss, who apologized numerous times for the coat. 'I can afford a $500 coat, and obviously you can’t,' she said, smirking. My boss was ready to lose it. The next day, the coat was found. 

A few weeks later, said-parent 'got her head taken off' by some kids in our school-age program playing soccer in the gym. Parents had to walk through the gym to get to their child’s classroom. When she complained about it, my boss brushed it off. We got a good laugh about the karma."

"Luckily, I'd told the guidance counselor how it went down, and the admin supported me. The parents were insistent that their kid had told the truth, and then spent about 15 minutes telling me I needed to provide him with more positive interaction in class, as he was being disruptive because he wasn't getting complimented enough. My admin stood up for me and told the parents that they'd seen their kid and me in class multiple times, that his behavior consistently didn't warrant compliments."

"Octopus? Put it on ice? I started laughing and let her know that I was not planning on carrying a bucket of ice for her daughter's octopus lunch."

"He was a great student and worked hard all year, but due to 'senioritis,' he chose not to do the last two projects that were required of him, which resulted in a poor grade. Had he committed and just turned partial work in, his grade would’ve been higher. This was a personal choice, but instead, she decided I did this purposefully and ruined her son’s future."

"'She doesn't need to do well, she just needs to pass until she graduates high school and then she can get married. Also, I had the same issues as a kid and I was fine,' she continued. 

Turns out, the mother's father had paid tutor after tutor to do the work for the mother so she'd pass as a child. The parents eventually came to conferences and said, 'There's nothing we're going to do about our child. Just let her do whatever she wants.'"

"I am also the sponsor of a different, content-specific honor society. The student did not apply during their first year of eligibility. This past school year, we provided a month-long application window. Once again, no application from the student. Keep in mind, the application was on a Google form, making it totally verifiable that we had no application from this student. When the student asked me about getting in, I let them know there was no application submitted by them. I had the Google form set so they had to use their district credentials to even open the form. The student went to their mom, and the mom proceeded to criticize me, not just to my sponsor, but also to my principal, claiming I 'lost' their child’s application two years in a row and basically accused me of having a personal vendetta against this kid. So. Much. Fun."

"They were attacking me for not being prepared and for getting a terrible substitute for this student, and complained that the subs were changing every day. Once I returned to work (soon after, because I was out of sick days), I had to have a meeting with the parents and principal to 'discuss my incompetence.' I was going to have another surgery, which I put off as close to Christmas break as possible, so as not to miss work, but I was going to have to miss some. The parents looked at me in the principal's office and, speaking to me like a child, said, 'Since this one won't be an emergency, you'll be better prepared and you will find us a good, consistent substitute?' I told them I'd try my best. However, they're never happy; they badmouthed me to younger grade parents and told them not to put their children in my class. They even reported me to the superintendent. That was when I decided I was done with teaching."

"I'd end up with a series of six or seven emails a class, plus messages from the office to call her back when I had a moment. Admin eventually told her to arrange meetings with me instead of emails, and 'surprisingly' it stopped!"

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.